You might think getting ripped off by a client is something that only happens to newbie freelance bloggers.

You’d be wrong.

I hear from a lot of experienced bloggers who are still having bad experiences with clients, time after time. Why does this keep happening?

Often, it keeps happening because you keep trusting in people you have absolutely no reason to trust. Sometimes you just don’t spot the warning signs. Sometimes you spot them, but you keep going anyway because you don’t really know what else to do.

I’ve been played by bad clients a couple of times. I know how it feels when you’re halfway through a project and you get that sudden feeling of impending doom. Your gut tells you to run for the hills, but you’re too busy worrying about your money and your reputation to act on that instinct.

And so, you get fooled again.

Learn these lessons now, and you won’t have to suffer the same thing later: [Read more…]

If you’re like most freelance writers with a dream, you do one kind of writing “by day” — the kind you get paid for — and another “by night” — the kind you love and dream of doing full-time.

If that’s you, you’re doing twice the work you need to, and you may be hurting your chances of advancing toward that dream career.

Be more choosy to make your dream career a reality.

When you’re starting out, many steady blogging jobs ask you to “be able to write with authority on a variety of topics”. You become trained to believe that in order to make money blogging, you have to know how to write about whatever a client wants you to write about. You become very skilled at internet research.

But what about the reason you write in the first place?

What about those topics you love with such passion that you pour hours every week into unpaid posts for your own blog? What of the things you choose to read about in your spare time, that you talk about in days-long Twitter conversations with people halfway round the world?

You don’t have to be a jack-of-all-trades blogger to make money. You can be choosy and stick to the topics you love. Here’s how. [Read more…]

Does the thought of a potential client checking out your freelance blogging portfolio make you so nervous, you get the hiccups?

When you’re freelancing, your portfolio is one of your biggest assets. It can get you hired on the spot, or dumped on the pile of instantly forgotten applicants who failed to impress.

So let’s ask the obvious question: what does your portfolio say about you?

It’s a tough question to answer for yourself, and there isn’t always someone around who’s qualified to give a second opinion. (Your parents and friends will always tell you that your freelance blogging portfolio looks great – that’s their job!)

Only your potential clients and blog editors really know what goes through their minds when they look at your portfolio.

And the biggest problem with that is, you don’t often get feedback from the people who chose not to hire you. So you’ll never know why they made that decision, or how you could have used your portfolio to win the dream gig that got away.

This might make me sound kinda mean, but as a professional blog editor I’ve rejected pitches from a lot of freelance bloggers whose portfolios weren’t up to scratch.

They weren’t all bad bloggers –in fact, some were already well-paid freelance writers– but without a strong blogging portfolio to support their query or job application, I simply couldn’t justify hiring them.

We don’t want that to happen to you, so let’s figure out what you can do to make your portfolio more impressive.

When I first started up this blog, Jon Morrow and a whole bunch of other experts all told me the same thing: give people something valuable for free if you want them to remember your blog exists.

So I created a free resource that helps freelance bloggers save time and make money: a big list of leads to higher-paying blogging gigs, so that you can confidently ignore cheap job ads and content mills.

This summer, you’ll be able to get your hands on the new 2013 edition with details of more than 50 high-paying blogs that accept pitches from freelance bloggers.

And that’s the thing: I want to be on my own list, dammit!

People tell me every day how the Ultimate List has helped them find new higher-paying markets. I feel ridiculously proud every time I hear from someone who’s won their very first paid blogging gig through the list I created.

So, how much cooler would it be if you could say that your mad freelance blogging skills have been tested, approved and paid for right here? [Read more…]

You know you were born to be a freelance blogger. It’s the perfect fit for you. But so far, you’re kinda going nowhere with it.

You haven’t won the high-paying jobs you hoped would be yours, and you haven’t been invited to join that inner circle of pro bloggers who all seem to know each other.

You check a handful of online job boards regularly, but there aren’t many ads that sound right for you. And when you do apply for gigs, you often don’t hear back from them at all.

How are you supposed to make money at this when there’s no work available?

Oh, it’s available all right. While you’re waiting for a miracle job to materialise, some other blogger is getting rich on projects that could have been yours. Why? Because you haven’t taken charge of your own career yet.

It really is that simple.

If you want to climb the freelance blogging career ladder, you need to step up and make it happen. Don’t worry, it’s easier than you think! Start with these 7 simple ways to take your business into your own hands and win the rewards you deserve. [Read more…]